Carton



Dec. 4, 1945. AXBERG 2,390,412

CARTON Filed July 12, 1944 BY WW ATTORNEY more particularly to cartonclosures.

Patented Dec. 4, 1945 UNITED smrss PATENT OFFICE The present inventionrelates to cartons, and

The object of the present invention is'to provide a carton closure whichis especially adapted for cartons containing crackers, breakfast foods,cereals .or like commodities, wherein the consumer is obliged to doleout small portions at a time, and consequently open and'close thepackage or carton accordingly.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a carton closurehaving the four usual flaps designed in such a novel manner that theymay perform the double function of having the closure adhesively sealedat the factory for transthe seal and quickly re-close the carton an in-.deiinite number of times and in a different manner than was originallydone at the factory.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in theaccompanying drawing and described in the following specification, inwhich- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a carton with the flaps open;

Fig. 2 is a side view, showing the rear flaps sliding into place;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view, showing the three flaps closed down withadhesive'on the front flap and ready to be adhered to the rear flap;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view, showing the carton completely sealed fortransportation:

Fig. 5 is a perspective view, showing the front flap torn in half andabout to be opened by the consumer;

Fig. 6 isa perspective view, showing how the consumer closes the cartonafter the seal isv broken; and

Fig. '1 is a perspective view, showing the carton completely closed bythe consumer.

Referring to the drawing, wherein I have shown by way of illustrationmerely a carton which may .be lined or unlined, having the usual frontpanel l0, rear panel ll, side panels i 2 and I3, and joined together bythe cutomary tab not shown inside the carton.

The side panels I! and i 3 have'the conventional side flaps I4 and [5which in the present invention remain substantially square as usual inall carton closures.

The side flaps l4 and I 5 are hingedly secured to the respective sidepanels l2 and I3 by score lines it and I1. The rear panel II has a largerear flap l8 hingedly secured to the rear panel i l by score line l9,and hingedly secured to the free end of the rear flap It by a score line2|! is a tuck-in tab 2| which is adapted to be inserted into a knife-cutslot 22 as hereinafter explained. When the rear flap i8 is closed itcovers the entire opening at the top of the carton.

The front panel l0 has a large front flap 23 hingedly secured to it by'ascore-line 24, and

when closed substantially covers the entire top surface of the rear flapl8.

The front flap'23 ha a knife-cut slot 25 at each end thereof andsubstantially in the center and each knife-cut slot 25 is connected by arow of perforations 26 or any other form of indentations which willpermit the panel to be readily tom.

In filling the carton at the factory by conventional packagingmachinery, the side of end flaps l4 and I5 are closed down first asshown in Fig. '3.

The rear flap I8 is then urged downwardly until the tab 2| touches theinside of frontflap 23 whereupon it is guided downwardly between thefront panel Ill and the side flaps II and I 5 since the front flap 23 isnormally held in a vertical position in the machine while this operationoccurs, as shown in Fig. 2.

The carton while still in this position is then carried along the guidesof the machine underneath a feeder of adhesive, which causesa line ofadhesive 21 to be brushed along the bottom surface of the front flap 23on the panel 28.

The front flap 23 which is divided into two separate panels 28 and 29 bythe perforations 28 is then urged downwardly upon the rear flap l8 sothat the panel 28 of the fiap.23 is secured to the flap i8.

After the package is carefully sealed with adhesive as shown in Fig. 4,it is then ready to be shipped to the market, and sealed in this mannerit is as structurally as strong or stronger than the usual four flap topclosures now in present use.

When the consumer receives the present type of package now on the marketit is necessary to mutilate the entire closure of the carton before thecontents may be removed, and when the package is in this shape it isalmost impossible to bring about a nice symmetrical closure.

The present invention obviates these dimculties by the provision of theclosure described.

When the consumer receives the carton from the market sealed as shown inFig. 4, and desires to remove some of the product, it is only necessaryto tear the flap 23 in half along the perforations 26 and lift up therear flap l8 and side flaps i4 and I5. After some of the product isremoved and the consumer desires to quickly close the carton, it is onlynecessary to close the end flaps H and I5 and cover them with the rearflap l8.

The tuck-in tab 2| on the flap I8 is then inserted into the slot 22which is cut into the flap 23 adjacent the score line 24 on the frontpanel l0.

It will be seen by referring to Figs. 4 and 7, that the closure made atthe factory and the closure made by the consumer are both equally asstrong in structure since no parts or pieces of the original closure aremissing.

It will of course be understood that the closure illustrated in thedrawing may or may not be used on the bottom of the carton, and it isthought that the showing of the top closure is suflicient to illustratethe novel features of the present invention.

I claim:

1. A carton comprising, a front panel, a rear panel, a pair of sidepanels, a pair of side flaps hingedly secured to said side panels, arear flap hingedly secured to said rear panel, a tuck-in tab hingedlysecured to the free end of said rear flap,

a medial line of severance running longitudinally of said front flap, alongitudinal slot in said front flap running parallel withand adjacentto the score line connecting said front-panel with said front flap, andadhesive means for' securing the free end of said front flap to the topside of said rear flap adjacent said rear panel.

2. A carton comprising, a front panel, a rear panel, a pair of sidepanels, a nap hingedly connected to said side panels, a rear flaphingedly connected to the free end of said rear panel, a tab hingedlyconnected to the free end of said rear flap, a front flap hingedlyconnected to said front panel, a row of perforations runninglongitudinally of said front flap and substantially in the centerthereof, knife-cuts at each end of said said tab on said rear flap.

ARTHUR H. AXBERG.

